


Reflection

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-06
Updated: 2010-03-06
Packaged: 2017-10-07 18:09:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/67796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's not like I get stuck in mirrors all the time," said Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reflection

Arthur held up a hand to stop the words tumbling from Merlin's mouth. 

"So what you're _really_ trying to say, is that you've been into the wine stores this morning," he said.

Merlin looked disgruntled, which Arthur felt was a clear sign that he was right, as usual. However Merlin was perverse and so replied, "No," with a mulish little look on his face.

"No? Well, perhaps someone hit you in the head. Or you fell down the stairs again?" Arthur suggested.

"No," Merlin replied stolidly. "And I didn't fall down that time either; Sir Eurig tripped me."

"Oh, yes," Arthur sighed. "The old 'Sir Eurig did it' story. Really, Merlin —"

"Eurig is almost as big a prat as you; he _definitely_ tripped me; and he smells like chickens."

"That is not a winning argument."

Merlin crossed his ludicrously thin arms across his equally thin chest and managed to look smug and cross at the same time. "I don't need a winning argument. We're stuck in a mirror and you being an ass isn't going to change that. Oh, but if you don't believe me, maybe you should try opening the door again."

Arthur looked at the door. Then he dragged a chair back from the table and sat heavily. "This sort of thing never happened to me before you showed up," he said.

"It's not like I get stuck in mirrors all the time," said Merlin.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment, Arthur's chambers filling with the unnatural silence that lay beyond the windows (which were uncomfortably blank) and the doors (which wouldn't open). Arthur hadn't realised just how much noise made up a normal, bustling castle. 

"Fine," he said at last. "Explain it to me again."

"I knew you weren't listening to me the first time," said Merlin.

"Of course I wasn't — you told me we'd gotten stuck in a mirror. What kind of idiot do you think I am?"

Merlin gave him a very speaking look, which Arthur nobly ignored. 

"I also told you that mirror was cursed, two days ago," Merlin added.

"Yes," Arthur agreed, "but that's because you thought it was ugly."

They both looked at the large gilt-edged mirror hanging on Arthur's wall. Merlin had a point, it was quite hideous. Arthur drummed his fingers on the table and tried to follow Merlin's convoluted explanation in his mind — _stuck in a mirror you could see hanging on your wall, how did that work? Father was going to execute half the court for this, if anyone ever discovered what had happened_.

"Right, we need a plan to get out," said Arthur.

"We should wait for Gaius."

"And that will take approximately how many years?"

"Well, since everyone thinks you're having a meal before drill, I'd say about, oh, an hour before someone comes looking for you. Then they'll see us in here and fetch Gaius, and Gaius will know what to do."

Merlin shrugged and hoisted himself up to sit on the table, looking very relaxed for someone trapped in a cursed mirror image of his master's room — Arthur frowned. "Merlin, do you recall me giving you permission to put your filthy breeches upon my table?"

"No," said Merlin, swinging his legs in an annoyingly carefree fashion. "But this isn't really your table. It's the mirror-table."

"But it's _my mirror_ which means the reflection is also mine, including the table, so just — get —" He grabbed for Merlin's waist and Merlin tried to push him off, digging his strong fingers into Arthur's body and wiggling and twisting. They wrestled stupidly for a moment until Arthur tried to put him into a headlock, which only succeeded in tipping Merlin off the edge — he slid awkwardly to the floor and dragged Arthur down with him. 

"Well, I think we know who won that round," Arthur said, lying on the floor and trying to catch his breath. 

Merlin didn't say anything but when Arthur looked over he was smiling, and for some reason that made Arthur smile, too.


End file.
